More homes torched in Maungdaw Twsp village

By Admin 09 May 2024

DMG Newsroom
9 May 2024, Maungdaw

Junta soldiers and Muslim militiamen trained by the military torched some homes in Shweyinaye Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, at about 4 a.m. on Thursday, according to local people.

Junta soldiers from the Myo Thu Gyi Village-based No. 5 Border Guard Force headquarters and Muslim militiamen set fire to homes in Shweyinaye Village, said an eyewitness from Kanthayar Village.

“Junta soldiers from the No. 5 Border Guard Force headquarters and Muslim militiamen destroyed some homes in Shweyinaye Village, but the fire was put out.  People still don’t dare to go and see the damaged homes,” the eyewitness added.

There are about 170 homes in Shweyinaye Village and villagers have fled to downtown Maungdaw and nearby villages since the 4th-Mile battle.

One woman was killed and 15 houses were incinerated in an arson attack by junta troops and Muslim conscripts on Waithali Village in Maungdaw Township on May 7.

In Maungdaw, the regime and some Muslims are committing deliberate attacks on residential areas in an effort to incite racial conflicts. Muslims were also among hundreds of junta soldiers from the Buthidaung-based 15th Military Operations Command who recently surrendered to advancing AA forces.

“The regime is deliberately torching houses to create racial conflicts. Some Muslims are also working hand in glove. Some Muslims were forced [to take part in the destructive acts]. Anyway, the AA must handle Muslim issues carefully when junta troops are driven out of Arakan State,” said one local politician.

More than 1,500 houses as well as an office and pharmacy of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) were destroyed in arson attacks in Buthidaung Town last month. Muslim conscripts as well as members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, Arakan Rohingya Army and Rohingya Solidarity Organization were involved in the arson attacks.

Fighting has been raging in Arakan State since mid-November. The regime has been forcibly conscripting locals, including Muslims, and sending many of them to the front line to fight the AA.

The regime is heavily reinforcing its bases in Maungdaw Town amid Arakkha Army (AA) attacks targeting the frontier town on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. Three naval vessels carrying hundreds of junta reinforcements arrived at the jetty of the Kanyin Chaung economic zone in Maungdaw on May 7.